An engaged column is an architectural element in which a column is embedded in a wall and partly projecting from the surface of the wall, which may or may not carry a partial structural load. Sometimes defined as semi- or three-quarter detached,[ of pseudoperipteral and other buildings.
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In the temples it is attached to the cella walls, repeating the columns of the peristyle, and in the theatres and amphitheatres, where they subdivided the arched openings: in all these cases engaged columns are utilized as a decorative feature, and as a rule the same proportions are maintained as if they had been isolated columns. In Romanesque work the classic proportions were no longer adhered to; the engaged column, attached to the piers, has always a special function to perform, either to support subsidiary arches, or, raised to the vault, to carry its transverse or diagonal rib vault. The same constructional object is followed in the earlier Gothic styles, in which they become merged into the mouldings. Being virtually always ready made, so far as their design is concerned, they were much affected by the Italian revivalists.[
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Gallery
26660- papyrus-shaped capitals at Saqqara.jpg|Ancient Egyptian engaged columns of the House of the North, detail of papyrus-shaped capitals, in the Heb-sed court of Djoser's Funerary Complex, Saqqara, Egypt, unknown architect, 2667-2648 BC
File:Step Pyramid complex of Djoser at Saqqara, ca. 2700 BCE (19).jpg|Ancient Egyptian engaged columns in the Heb-sed court of Djoser's Funerary Complex, unknown architect, 2667-2648 BC
4-12 Bulevardul Regina Elisabeta, Bucharest (02).jpg| Engaged columns on the Beaux Arts facade of the University of Bucharest on Strada Edgar Quinet, Bucharest, Romania, by Nicolae Ghika-Budești, in collaboration with Duiliu Marcu, 1914-1934
56 Bulevardul Dacia, Bucharest (01).jpg|Romanian Revival engaged columns on the C.N. Câmpeanu House on Bulevardul Dacia, Bucharest, by Constantin Nănescu, 1923
1A Piața Revoluției, Bucharest (02).jpg|Engaged Corinthian order columns on the Ministry of Internal Affairs Building, Bucharest, by Emil Nădejde, 1938-1941
89 Bulevardul Eroii Sanitari, Bucharest (03).jpg|Mediterranean Revival engaged columns of the Prof. C.A. Teodorescu House on Bulevardul Eroii Sanitari, Bucharest, Ion Giurgea, 1941
See also
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Stierlin, Henri The Roman Empire: From the Etruscans to the Decline of the Roman Empire, Taschen, 2002
